our 8 yearold was handcuffed at school with his hands behind his back.he has autism.adhd,odd,bipolar.can anyone tell us if they have had this problem at school.and what they did to correct it.we have not had any luck with the school system.they keep him in a special ed room all day,they bring his lunch to him.he has to sit facing the wall also.if anyone has any advice please

I will write more when I have more time, but I had to reply and say as the mother of a 10 year old with Autism my heart is breaking for you and your son. I have had many a problems with school and have ended up having to home school my son. I could no longer bear the way he was being treated. It has been a tough road but one that has helped him very much.

Your childs personal rights were violated. I would not for one min. allow my son to be treated in this manner . Go to the higher ups and make your voice be heard. You need to be your childs advocate. I would not have my child in school until the problem is resolved.
No child deserves to be treated this way , and to me it is obvious that the school does not have any training on special needs children. A child cannot be restrained in this matter .
This is very wrong.

oh my gosh, your child was abused and you need an IEP written with specific behavior interventions that the teachers must do and for SURE what you're describing is not one of them. i think i too would have called the police - it's illegal to do a restraint like that i'm pretty sure.

tell the director of special ed that you need an immediate IEP meeting to describe the exact steps to be taken when your son is having a difficult behavior and have people at the meeting to advocate for you to help with the plan ie a school counselor or autism advocate for the district, or school psych.

What a horrible thing to happen, sounds like your son has issues these teachers aren't trained to handle. Do a lookup on "georgia autism" and it will bring up the name of several agencies that can help. The Autism Society of America can help you wade through this mess. In our area we have an advocate who will go to school with the parents and help write the IEP's and teach the teachers how to handle these children. Hopefully, you'll find someone like this in Ga.

I'm another one who had to take my son out of regular school and homeschool, but he never encountered anything nearly as inappropriate as this event.

our 8 yearold was handcuffed at school with his hands behind his back.he has autism.adhd,odd,bipolar.can anyone tell us if they have had this problem at school.and what they did to correct it.we have not had any luck with the school system.they keep him in a special ed room all day,they bring his lunch to him.he has to sit facing the wall also.if anyone has any advice please

Yes, I have had that problem with the Wisconsin Public school system. We MONITORED their [lack] of state and federal compliance with the laws in effect and proved by their own documents that they did not meet state/federal standards at teaching our son. Unfortunately, it took us three years to amass the records--in the meantime, we attended all his IEP's, engaged the services of an advocate for children with special needs, and fought them tooth-and-nail. In the end, the school system had to pay for our son to attend a special school over a hundred miles away that specializes in children with autism disorders, and we got 2 teachers and a principal removed. Hang in there and teach your child social skills and cues to help him understand behaviors, etc. This is something schools should teach kids with this difficulty [just like they teach math and reading], but they don't and won't until you as the parent hold them accountable! And never mind that the laws support YOU; YOU have to prove negligence on their part BEFORE you are allowed to invoke the law! That's why it took us so long to prove our case. Luckily, they didn't totally destroy our son, but it was a near thing--if one doesn't have money in America, you are screwed! City/County/State agencies were no help--we finally got help and advice from a federal agency. My husband nearly became a
paralegal he researched so much law. My son is now 23 years of age and has adjusted well to living in assisted living; holds a job, and [despite his horrific experiences] is thinking of returning to school. So there IS hope for you and your son--hold on! You are welcome to email me if you wish. Reading material I HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND IS "The Complete IEP Guide: How to Advocate for Your Special Ed Child" By Attorney Lawrence M. Siegel ISBN # 0-87337-408-8 and "Social Skills Training: For Children with Asperger Syndrome and Social-Communication Problems." (Asperger Syndrome is a higher functioning form of Autism, but it doesn't make life any easier!) by Jed E. Baker, Ph.D. ISBN # 1-931282-20-X

Dear Burtist,
These actions by the school system, is not in any form, acceptable.
I agree that you need to look for an advocate as soon as possible. Special Ed Advocates are a Godsend. In addition to looking into the agencies that are listed I would contact my child's Pediatrician now, Monday. I would explain to him what's going on and ask him for help. He should know who to go to in the area. I know that it's difficult that when things are the most difficult, you have to be the most vigilant, and get things done.
Please keep us posted.
Peggy

We've had a similar experience at our school, except our child was locked up. Sometimes pinned to the floor by 4 adults - the list goes on... I tried contacting the authorities and CPS would do absolutely nothing.

We found out that the laws regarding "seclusion and restraint" are different in every state. Some states have absolutely zero regulations on how much and what type of seclusion and restraint is used on our special needs kids. It's insane!!

We received help from an autism specialist at the co-op level. I don't know if you have those kind of resources available, but if you do, it might be worth a try. Another great resource that helped us a lot was getting an Independent Educational Evaluation. If you don't agree with your child's placement or interventions, you can request an IEE at the school district's expense. I also had to hire a good lawyer and advocate to help me learn the law inside and out. It's amazing how much my child's "free and appropriate" education has cost me out of pocket.

our 8 yearold was handcuffed at school with his hands behind his back.he has autism.adhd,odd,bipolar.can anyone tell us if they have had this problem at school.and what they did to correct it.we have not had any luck with the school system.they keep him in a special ed room all day,they bring his lunch to him.he has to sit facing the wall also.if anyone has any advice please

hi, my son who is almost 7 has aspergers and he to has had trouble with bullies and teachers just not understanding him so they label him as a naughty kid and treat him that way. my husband is in the RAAF and we move every 3 years and seem to come across this problem everywhere. even though he also has ADHD and seperation anxiety i seem to have no other choice but to home school him as i think you should do the same, it is up to us to protect our kids and the schools seem to failing us. good luck